When flying back home from any trip abroad, surprises are the last thing you want to deal with. There is enough stress with repacking your suitcase (likely with more stuff than when you arrived), checking out of accommodations and finding your way back to the airport. Not to mention the fact that since the trip is over, you’re probably much less excited about the upcoming transportation. Preclearance airports are something you’ll want to know about.
it is good to be familiar with US Customs and Border Protection Preclearance locations. This will avoid a combination surprise and headache when coming back from certain locations. Refer back to this link if you are planning to return to the US from the following cities:
- Ireland: Dublin, Shannon
- Caribbean: Aruba, Freeport, Nassau, Bermuda
- United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi
- Canada: Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Long story short, you will not clear customs once you are back stateside from these preclearance airports. Rather, you’ll do that process before boarding your flight home (hence PRE-clearance, heyo!).
There is some convenience to this process, as you can get all your admin business knocked out in one place. It’s also (allegedly) a better way to keep our country secure from threats. However, you should prepare for this because it can cause massive headaches.
Massive headaches… like the one my wife Sunshine and I experienced coming home from Dublin, Ireland in 2016. You need to build in for the preclearance process, above and beyond the time needed for checking in and getting through airport security.
Sunshine and I arrived more than two hours early, but did not realize Dublin was a preclearance airport. We barely made our gate before the door closed. After checking our bags and making our way through security, there were two additional checkpoints: one to stamp our passports and x-ray our carry-on baggage, and another security checkpoint ~100 feet from the gate. Having to wait in fairly long lines four times before boarding made us really nervous about making our flight home.
I would recommend that if traveling home from one of the preclearance airports that you allow more than three hours before your flight’s scheduled takeoff. Since it took us over two hours to clear all the security checkpoints before boarding, I think this is reasonable. The more time buffer the better, and once you make it through the process you can fully relax and enjoy your flight. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that when you land stateside you can grab your bags and go straight home!
I hope this is a helpful tip if you are planning to travel abroad and come home via any of the cities listed above. Preventing situations like this is why I created The Meticlous Traveler. If you know someone that could find this information useful, please share!
